This discussion is about the counties of Virginia's Middle Peninsula. Talk about issues of local government, school boards, committees, commissions, even party committees.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

[Peninsula-Patriots] IT BEGINS: McAuliffe/Alinsky

It is always important to know your opponents. This is an excellent article that should be studied regularly during this election season. Know your facts and be ready to speak the truth. Over the course of the summer, we will be working on educating the electorate on issues.Ruth

It is called "Rules for Radicals" and was written by Saul Alinsky and it is really hard to get my Conservative and Republican friends to read this tiny little book we all know about.

I suppose they feel that since they are not radicals, they shouldn't read it.

Or perhaps that it is so much worthless tripe and a waste of time.

But it is everything you need to know about Democrats' tactics.

Consider this statement that Terry McAuliffe sent out moments after Ken Cuccinelli was officially nominated:

Wow, they really did it.

Moments ago, the Republican Party of Virginia officially nominated Ken Cuccinelli as their candidate for Governor.

We knew this was coming, but I want to make sure you know what it means.

If Ken Cuccinelli is elected Governor of Virginia, he'll spend the next four years pursuing his divisive social agenda — trying to delegitimize climate science, roll back gay rights, and limit women's access to health care — instead of focusing on what's really important: creating jobs and opportunity for Virginia families.

Pay attention to the last sentence. The "Rules for Radicals" are posted below. How many of the 12 rules did Terry McAuliffe use to create that last sentence?

The answer is below the 12 Rules. See if you can catch them all!

* RULE 1: "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have." Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. "Have-Nots" must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

* RULE 2: "Never go outside the expertise of your people." It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don't address the "real" issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)

* RULE 3: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

* RULE 4: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules." If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity's very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

* RULE 5: "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

* RULE 6: "A good tactic is one your people enjoy." They'll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They're doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other human being. We all avoid "un-fun" activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)

* RULE 7: "A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag." Don't become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)

* RULE 8: "Keep the pressure on. Never let up." Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

* RULE 9: "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself." Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists' minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in demoralization.)

* RULE 10: "If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive." Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful [albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management's wrath, often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)

* RULE 11: "The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative." Never let the enemy score points because you're caught without a solution to the problem. (Old saw: If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)

* RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

The correct answer is that McAuliffe used 11 of the 12 rules in a single sentence.

If Ken Cuccinelli is elected Governor of Virginia, he'll spend the next four years pursuing his divisive social agenda — trying to delegitimize climate science, roll back gay rights, and limit women's access to health care — instead of focusing on what's really important: creating jobs and opportunity for Virginia families.

Rule 7 is the only one they did not use.

Rule 1: Cuccinelli will not have the power to do what McAuliffe is predicting. But McAuliffe wants to scare Virginians into believing he does.

Rule 2: Global warming, Gay rights, Women's health are all areas Democrats thrive on. Their area of "expertise" – really exploitation. McAuliffe didn't mention energy, traditional family values or the other issues that they are a loss with. He also didn't mention taxes (although McDonnell didn't help with the fiscal conservative narrative with the massive tax increase).

Rule 3: See Rule 2 above.

Rule 4: Republicans have God in the platform. The Bible teaches "gay rights" are a sin. In order to be pro gay rights you must be against the Bible.

Rule 11: The constructive alternative? "instead of focusing on what's really important: creating jobs and opportunity for Virginia families." Notice Terry didn't mention Green jobs. Not his area of expertise.

Rule 12: Cuccinelli is evil! "he'll spend the next four years pursuing his divisive social agenda" Right. Divisive Social Agenda like protecting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. Not things we can all agree on with no controversy like gay "marriage", killing unborn children and taking away those nasty guns.

Let me respond to McAuliffe with a press release using the helpful hints from Alinsky:

Terry McAuliffe attacked Ken Cuccinelli today demanding he disavow God and stop using the Constitution as a guideline and abandon his plans to developing clean coal and nuclear energy providing jobs to Virginians for decades to come.

Perhaps the Republican ticket should immediately analyze every press release from McAuliffe and point out every Radical Rule he uses.

There would be no need to respond to the false accusations. Just call them out for the Radicals they are.

Tom is a US Navy Veteran, owns an Insurance Agency and is currently an IT Manager for a Virginia Distributor. He has been published in American Thinker, currently writes for the Richmond Examiner as well as Virginia Right! Blog. Tom lives in Hanover County, Va and is involved in politics at every level and is a Recovering Republican who has finally had enough of the War on Conservatives in progress with the Leadership of the GOP on a National Level.